In Memorium
by MasterMind13
Summary: The Iron Giant's story lives on as Hogarth tells it to his twin siblings.


**I've been dying to write this story for months. I had about three or four scenes flashing in my head before I could make them into something readable.**

 **Anyways, enjoy the story. Don't forget to review. ;)**

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"Tell us again, Hogarth!"

"Yeah, tell us!"

Hogarth looked back at his twin siblings—a boy and a girl—and went back to them, chuckling. "Okay."

"Yeah!" Erica and Oliver cheeped. They got comfortable in their beds as Hogarth sat back in his usual chair, the chair he sat in when he told them stories.

"I was home alone that night," said Hogarth. "Mom was working late at the diner, and I—troublemaker that I am—made a fort and watched a scary movie."

Erica hugged her teddy bear in excitement.

"And then, the power went out." Hogarth said, leaning forward in his chair. "And I got on my helmet, grabbed my BB gun and ran into the woods. I arrived at the power plant and that's where I saw him."

"The Giant." Oliver uttered, clutching his sheets.

"Oh yeah." Hogarth nodded. "I saw him. He must've been about fifty feet tall. And he was eating the transmission lines and then he electrocuted himself. Acting on instinct, I went and pulled the off switch.

"He fell to the ground, unconscious—"

"Weren't you scared?" Erica squeaked.

"Of course." said Hogarth, sitting back, crossing his leg. "I was afraid he was gonna wake up any minute. But anyways, I climbed on the Giant and dropped a rock in his mouth—to see if he would wake up. I waited. I was about to throw another one when the Giant all of a sudden woke up. I got scared and ran away.

"The Giant got up, and, man, he was huge. I thought he was going to punch a hole through the sky. I ran, and that's when I bumped into Mom. I tried to tell her about the Giant but she didn't believe me. Mom and I went home, and I looked back and I saw the Giant silhouetted against the sky, just staring back at me."

"Whoa!" Erica and Oliver cooed in wonder.

"Yeah." Hogarth nodded. "And the next day I searched for him, banging on this piece of scrap metal—food for him. I waited, and waited, and waited. I laid there behind the bush, ready to take a picture of him. When I was about to head back home, I saw that the sheet metal was missing.

"The Giant showed me the off switch, he knew that I had saved him. I taught the Giant how to talk. I taught him words like 'rock' and 'tree.' I still laugh at that to this day. And then he followed me home, even when I told him that I would come back later. The Giant wanted to eat the train tracks. I saw the train coming and I had to get him to put the tracks back together. I told him, 'That's good, just leave it like that!' But I think he was keen on doing things right. The train crashed into him, and he went flying! I hid behind a rock and watched the smoke clear away. The Giant landed not so far away, parts of him were missing.

"I took him to the barn to hide. There he fixed himself. You see, he has this antenna in his head to call back his body parts. He fixed himself up, and I went back to the house. I saw that one of his hands didn't go back to its master. I had to distract Mom while I got the hand back to the Giant."

Erica and Oliver laughed, both kicking their feet.

"Tell the part where you met the bad man." Erica quoth.

"Kent Mansley," said Hogarth. "Yeah, he was on business from the White House. Apparently, he found my BB gun—the one I left at the power plant." He leaned forward in excitement, making hand gestures. "So then, that's when I jumped into action. I distracted Kent while also trying to keep my friendship with the Giant. He kept bugging me with questions about the power plant and what I was doing up there. Finally, I caved.

"I took him to the diner for some sundaes. I put laxatives in his sundae. It had him going to the bathroom all day."

"Ewwww!," exclaimed Erica, sticking her tongue out.

Hogarth chuckled at the memory. "While he was delayed, I went back to the Giant."

"Get to the part where you meet Dad!," cheeped Oliver, sitting up in his bed.

"Yeah!" Erica agreed, nodding.

"Okay, okay," said Hogarth, chuckling. "You see, the Giant and I ended up at Dad's junkyard. I knew he needed food, so, junkyard, perfect place. The Iron Giant bit into an old car and the car horn went off and then—and then—after trying to turn it off he finally throws it over Dad's garage."

Erica laughed, imagining the Giant throwing the car.

"And that's when he and I talked. He offered me espresso, I go into this sugar rush and babble on and on. He goes outside after hearing noises. He gets scared at the sight of the Giant. He tries to run off, trying to protect me, not knowing the Giant was trying to protect me from him, thinking Dad was a bad guy. After calming the Giant and explaining to Dad, he agrees to let the Giant stay at his junkyard."

"Get to the good part, Hogarth," prodded Oliver. "When the bad man had you in the barn. That must've been scary."

"It was," agreed Hogarth, nodding. "I just came to put my bike away when he locked the door and sat me down on this chair. He interrogated me, and when he brought up Mom, I told him the Giant was at the junkyard. Then Kent put a rag over my mouth and I fell asleep. I woke up in my room, and I wanted to escape through the window when I saw that he nailed it shut.

"Kent and I had a stare down. We stayed up practically all night. I fell asleep. When I woke up I saw that he was still asleep. I quickly called Dad in the kitchen and told him about Kent. And then the army showed up and Mom and I were driven to the junkyard. We all went into Dad's workshop. They were surprised to see the Giant, but the Giant was made to look like an art project. You should've seen the General yelling at Kent."

"He must've been sore." Oliver stated.

"He was." Hogarth nodded.

"What happened next?" Erica asked, hugging her teddy bear.

"Well, we knew Kent was done for, so the Giant and I played a game in the junkyard. If only I'd have known what would happen that day. You see, the Iron Giant responds defensively. He reacted to the gun. Dad saw him as 'a big gun,' which hurt the Giant so badly that he ran away. I went after him. Dad then changed his mind and gave me a ride on his motorcycle. We followed him to town, where he was the center of attention.

"But then the army showed up again. The Giant and I took off, he had me in his hand. We almost fell off a cliff when the Giant discovered he could fly."

"Wow!" Erica sighed. She and her brother looked at each other with wide eyes and a spark of excitement.

"We were flying up high above the clouds. It was like he was Superman. But we saw military jets chasing us. We tried to escape them, but one of them shot a missile and hit the Giant. We were spinning and spiraling out of control. I swore I saw my life flash before my eyes. The speed, the wind rushing through my neck, my ears ringing. And then everything went dark.

"I woke up in the car. I convinced them to stop the car, but they insisted on leaving. Soldiers stopped us, that's when I snuck out and went up to the Giant. I knew he was rampaging because he thought I had died. He was just scary with these lasers and his eyes glowing red. I stood in front of the Giant, trying to get through to him, trying to convince him that I wasn't dead. He must've thought he was seeing a ghost. Whatever he considers a ghost. I finally got through to him, giving him two choices. And he calmed down. But of course, it didn't last long.

"Kent had to make things worse by ordering them to launch the missile." Hogarth chuckled. "Kent, stupid that he was, forgot that the Giant was in town. Meaning we would all die when the missile touchdowns. So then, the Giant did the unthinkable: he flew up into space, saving us from the missile. The missile followed him. And then there was the explosion. It looked pretty amazing from the heavens. And after that he was gone."

"Wow," cooed Erica and Oliver with wide eyes.

"Where's the Giant now?," asked Oliver.

"That's the thing, I don't know," replied Hogarth, his eyes misting up. He looked at the floor in thought. "About seven months later, after Dad made the statue of the Giant, the General came. He handed me a screw—a screw that came from the Giant. That night, the screw was banging on the window, trying to get out. I knew what that meant! The Giant was alive! I opened the door for it and I watched it roll away." Hogarth sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. "And that was that."

Oliver looked at his sister, unsure of what to say. "Do you think the Giant will come back?" he finally asked, facing Hogarth.

"I don't know," said Hogarth. "I've been waiting and waiting here for the past nine years, and I _still_ haven't seen sight of him." He furrowed his brow and thought. He looked at Erica and Oliver, not wanting to disappoint him. "But," he began, "this is what I think. I think the Giant is waiting for the right time. For when the town's forgotten about everything. And...I think by then, everyone will be more accepting of him. And not just him, but other creatures like him."

Erica looked at her brother for reassurance.

"So, I believe the Giant _will_ come back," said Hogarth. "For now, I have to be patient."

"Hey!" a voice called from the other side of the door. The door flew open. Dean and Annie were home.

"Daddy!" Erica and Oliver jumped out of bed and hugged their father.

"How are my angels today?" Dean asked.

"Good!" the twins answered in unison.

"Did you two behave?" Annie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Mommy!" the twins answered.

Annie turned to her oldest son. "Hogarth, thanks again for watching the kids."

"No problem, Mom," said Hogarth as he stood up. "Always happy to help."

"Anyways, goodnight Hogarth," said Dean. He turned to his son and daughter. "Erica, Oliver, say goodnight to your brother."

"Goodnight, Hogarth," Erica and Oliver said to Hogarth.

"Hogarth, congratulations on getting into MIT," commented Dean. "Really proud of you."

"Thanks," replied Hogarth.

"Are you going to be gone forever?" Erica asked, hugging her teddy bear.

"No, Erica," said Hogarth. "I won't be gone forever. I'll still come back for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Besides, I won't be going to college for another four months."

"I'll wait for you," said Erica. "As long as it takes."

"Me too!," chimed Oliver.

"Okay, lights out," said Dean.

"Goodnight!"

Hogarth exited the twins' room and went back to his room, which was right across from there's. He closed his door and went to his desk. He paged through his letters. College brochures. There was his acceptance letter from MIT. It was a prestigious college. Over the last years, his connection to the Iron Giant made him popular. The statue of the Giant put the town on the spot. Hogarth had connections with General Rogard. They still contacted him whenever they had a lead on the Iron Giant. Or, at least they think they spotted him. Nine years have passed, and still no sign of him.

Hogarth went over to the window and sat on the seat. He looked out to the starry night sky. The full moon shone in the blue velvet. He's spent the last nine years hoping, wishing, waiting. The Iron Giant was out there somewhere. Would he be here when he comes back? Where was he? Was he still on Earth or did he go back to his own planet? Hogarth just wanted to see him again, to know he was okay.

After all he's been through. After chasing dreams and going through every trial, there was nothing Hogarth can't do. There was still always the chance that the Giant could come back. There was always hope. Always.

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 **Okay, so, about my story. In my headcanon, Dean and Annie get married when Hogarth's eleven. They had Erica and Oliver when Hogarth was twelve. Hogarth is eighteen in this story. The twins are six years old. The twins have black hair and blue eyes. I should've written that in the story. -_-**

 **Anyways, am I going to continue this story? Hmmm. Probably not. The story's perfect the way it is. :) And I believe the Iron Giant will come back. It's just good things come to those who wait**.


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